Farewell...For Now

Where to begin...besides with, that this is not the end.  Sure it may seem like it...the rest of the family has already moved back, the house is completely packed up and even the dog flew out today...but there is something about China that is forever a part of each of us (and not just those of us that are actually of Asian descent!).  

Mr. Xu and his buddy Joseph

While there is so much at home we are looking forward to, there is also so much here that we will miss...Mr Xu (who has been with us since the first day 3 years ago when 7 of us showed up at the airport with our 27 pieces of luggage!), Ayi Shi, Joseph's previous foster family, Concordia & SHINE Academy, school friends, Abundant Grace church, the really convenient health care (as long as nothing is seriously wrong!), the vibrant pace of SH life, our favorite Chinese foods, walking around JinQiao, cute little Chinese babies everywhere, foot massages, amazing travels across China/Asia and the list goes on!!

And being honest, there are also things that we will not miss...air pollution (no more need to check the Air Quality index before going out to play!), people hawking, men peeing anywhere as nature calls them, the meat department at Carrefour (for that matter, all of shopping at Carrefour!), squatty pottys, Puxi traffic, the inability to effectively communicate with everyone!

But you take the good with the 'not so good' and overall it has been a life changing, adventurous and amazing three years.  We are so blessed and thankful to have had this experience.  And besides who could have ever predicted we'd come home with a son???

So we will be back...maybe to study (some sooner than others!), maybe to visit, maybe to live - one thing we've learned is you just never know what God has in store, but as long as you're following Him it's all going to be good!

Lindsey & Kia...we're all going to miss her!!

Zoe & Katie (who was repatriating too so we hope to see her in Colorado!)

Goodbye party at work...they all showed up in cowboy hats!

Detour..Europe

Before heading back to the US, Lindsey and I had the amazing opportunity to visit Europe for a week (early celebration of her sweet 16 birthday!).  What a treat, not just to see the beautiful cities but to spend so much quality time with my amazing daughter!  First it was a wonderful experience on Emirates Airline (flying through Dubai UAE)...power outlets at every seat, little lights on the ceiling to represent stars when they dim the cabin lights, big screens at your seat for the on-demand movies, taking a Polaroid picture of us & framing it for free...guess our expectations are low coming from US airlines where you don't even get peanuts anymore!
Our first 5 days were spent in Paris...we ended up with a darling little hotel (and yes I mean little in the literal sense!) right around the corner from the Eiffel Tower - you really couldn't have gotten a more cute & quaint place or perfect location. We loved the Eiffel Tower...climbed its 669 steps to the second platform (thank goodness the only choice is an elevator from there to the very top!), marveled at it during the day, watched it light up at night (did you know the lights twinkle for 5 minutes on the hour after dark?), enjoyed the views from it, ate chocolate/banana/strawberry crepes below it and enjoyed the view of it from every other landmark in the city as it is so enormous!

View from Notre Dame

While every day we did spend some time at the Eiffel Tower, we also took in Notre Dame (climbed those 422 steps to the top of the tower!), Arc De Triomphe (climbed those 292 steps to the top... noticing a trend??), walked along the Champs Elysees, ate macaroons at Laduree (yes we waited in line to get into this upscale pastry shop with the best macaroons in the world!), meandered the side streets of the Latin Quarter, took the River Seine cruise, rested at the Tuileries Gardens and viewed some of the best known art in the world from painters like Monet, Van Gogh, Da Vinci and the list goes on.  Now call me shallow but the more amusing thing than seeing the Mona Lisa was getting up to the front to see the Mona Lisa.  It is in a large room in the Louvre (an absolutely over-whelming astounding museum)...the room is then filled with people all trying to see the one painting (that is actually quite a bit smaller then expected).  So we'd heard the stories about how you won't get to see it, only the backs of other people taking pictures of it but this is where our China skills came in very handy...within 15 minutes of entering the Louvre we found the Denon wing, found the Mona Lisa room, strategically meandered (not pushed!) our way through the crowd and were standing right at the rope in front of the painting.  I was actually looking for more of a challenge!

On the London Eye

From Paris we headed off on the high speed train under the English Channel to London!  Given we were only spending 3 days in London we chose to do the Big Bus Hop On Hop Off tour and loved it!  Great way to hit all the big sights and learn more about the city from the bus tour guides...useless trivia and all!  So we...toured the National Gallery, saw St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, rode on the London Eye and took in two shows: Phantom of the Opera and Wicked.  Loved all the double decker buses, London taxis and telephone booths!  Totally different from Paris and as Lindsey says....she could live in London too!

Crowd of people for the Mona Lisa (it is the small painting on the far wall!)

Courtyard of the Louvre

Lindsey sitting atop the Arc De Triomphe

Tower Bridge - London

Big Ben with the London Eye in the background

Cute telephone booths!

Shanghai...

As some of you may know, our adventures in China are over this summer.  We are beyond blessed, grateful and humbled by the time we have had here - our lives are forever changed!  We are so sad to leave and also excited to be heading back to Arkansas - exactly where we were hoping to return at the end of this assignment!  More on the move later...but in the meantime it has meant that we are trying to capture as much of this amazing city & culture as we can with the time we have left!  So this post is just some pictures of the Shanghai skyline as we've been out and about recently and our three precious Chinese kiddos!



Photo from the Bund of the PuDong skyline

Sunset over the Bund (taken from PuDong)















Photo from the Bund at dusk...you can see the new SH Tower being built.  It dwarfs the World Financial Center (that is currently the 3rd tallest building in the world).  At what height does it become architecturally impossible to continue to build safely??

Photo from the World Financial Center - overlooking the top of the JinMao Tower, the Pearl Tower and HuangPu River.

Peasant Farmer Painting Village

Last weekend was an adventure Saturday out to JinShan Peasant Painting Village!  It started with the road trip with Mr. Xu who has in recent months started to drive really fast.  You can't really say anything to him as he could 'lose face' so you just buckle up and pray!

The village was fun as the painters are all there in the shops (painting until you walk in to look around).  They pretty much only speak Chinese but they will just keep talking and pointing out different pictures.  And almost all of them have some time when they were published in a magazine or newspaper..and even if it was 10 years ago they will still have the newspaper there

to show you!

After the painting village we headed over to FenJing, a local water town...mainly in search of food.  Often times this is where our plan completely falls apart - it will be past lunch time and either everything is too crowded or we can't find any place to eat.  But not today!  We found a great local restaurant (it is always best not to think about health inspection standards in China!).  We ordered off what looked good from other tables and a piece of paper with favorite meals that Kelly got from her China Reign Ministries trip back in summer 2010!  Couldn't read a thing on their menu but we got some fabulous tomato&eggs, stir fried green beans, stir fried rice, eggplant, and kungpao chicken.  If you repress the memory of me getting peed on when I took a specific daughter (who will remain nameless!) to the squatty potty - it was all good!

Catching Up With Life

What happened to Spring and the rest of the school year??  So much activity I can't keep up with it...and certainly can't keep up with blogging it!  Here are some highlights from May and June....
Andy again hosted his loveliest young ladies to the Girl Scouts Daddy Daughter Dance.  Abigail wanted to wear the same dress as last year (and apparently she hasn't grown much taller as it still fit perfectly!).  Zoe had a dress made by Kitty - very fun to pick out the design and material!  Joseph...well he just wanted to go to the dance!

Due to some tax regulations the SH P&G Sales office moved from Huaihai Road in Puxi across the river to the Lujiazui Financial District in PuDong.  Amazing location of the office  - 40th floor looking out over the World Financial Center and the new SH Tower.  In traditional China style they also majorly celebrated the office opening...complete with a ribbon cutting and a serious lion dancing show.  Quite entertaining to say the least!

May was a beautiful month (if you don't pay too close attention to the air pollution index!).  Most weekends you would find Andy, Zoe, Abigail, Joseph and I out walking and often ending up outside the hospital to get some yummy street food and then up to Bubble Tea for slushies!  Family time (well a lot of the family), outside 'fresh' air, exercise and just watching the crazy pace of life in SH!

And when that crazy pace has just been too much what do you do...sneak off to Head to Toe for a foot massage!  This was a first for Zoe & Abigail!  We thought they would laugh/giggle/squirm through the whole thing...instead they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, soaking up the relaxing environment, talking to the ladies there in Chinese.  You really can't go wrong with a 1 HOUR foot massage (that starts with your back, neck, shoulders) for just $12.  Uh oh though...they're hooked!

In early June was the Dragon Boat holiday...a great reason to have 3 days holiday from work!  Lots of rain in June (the plum rains as they are called) making it quite dreary but some great decorations around Shimao to brighten it up!

Celebrating in Shanghai

In the end of April, our amazing Megan turned 17!  Birthday breakfast (that would be muffins with Megan's standard frosted wheat cereal) including Kelly via Skype(!!), dinner at a new Italian restaurant right in Shimao, 17 candles in a Shanghai skyline cupcake, a new iPhone and then a surprise dinner party with her friends later in the week!  Love celebrating this girl!

Last weekend then was PROM!  Planning ahead (of course what else would you expect!) we purchased a dress back in Colorado over Christmas holiday and boy did she look beautiful!  Her group of friends took pictures at Century Park, came back here (yeah!) for snacks before heading to Kathleen on 5 (a restaurant in the Shanghai Art Museum).  Our 'little people' also loved getting dressed up to host the teenagers and of course Zoe adored seeing the girls in their fancy dresses!  Great group of friends, lots of laughs and fun memories.

Fun birthday cupcakes!

Celebrating with the family

Just the girls

Megan and Nathan

Win or Lose...Having Fun!

As a parent, I think one of the most enjoyable things is watching your kid do what they love!  This is what soccer season is for us with Lindsey!  For her second season in high school, Lindsey was on the varsity team, played right midfield and was a starter for every game.  Now last year was a high as they won almost every game.  This year...well...a good character building year!  After a tough season, the team came in second in the Shanghai International School Athletic Conference (SISAC) after overtime and losing in a shoot out (such a cliff hanger).  The final tournament, APAC - Asia Pacific Activities Conference, was in Kobe, Japan at the Canadian Academy.  The teams were from Japan, Beijing, Manilla-Philippines, Shanghai and Guangzhou.  With help from Monique & family (Joseph's last foster family before us, his forever family!), we managed at home to do work, school and let Andy go to Kobe for the 5 days!  A great break for him and time to spend with other soccer parents - eating Kobe beef, sushi, Indian and of course being there to cheer on the team!  APAC was another character building event - however the girls had such a great team spirit and so much fun together that they were able to rise above losing several games and ultimately won the best sportsmanship award!  Once again, win or lose, a great experience, making friends, having fun and playing soccer!

Lindsey & her kindergarten buddy from Japan Canada Academy

More HK Pics!

The amazing Resort Disney train to the park!

Having our lunch of peanut butter sandwiches

Joseph in Toy Story Land

Fireworks over Sleeping Beauty Castle - amazing!

Excited to eat at Bubba Gumps!

Happy Boys

Holidays in Hong Kong

For the balance of our Spring Break, we went to Hong Kong - a wonderful mix of city, mountains & islands.  Given it used to be a part of England, most people speak English so communicating with taxi drivers is significantly easier!  And while it is now a part of China (kind of I guess) there is no expectorating (or hawking as Andy calls it), no public urination, no squatty pottys - it is amazingly clean!!  Love it!





Instead of the normal hotel or resort stay we instead used VRBO and rented a flat!  Very fun and convenient to just stay in a local apartment!  Our primary destination in HK was not any cultural museum, historical site or educational experience...it was Hong Kong Disney!  I know, not real deep, but just look at our crew...and we absolutely loved it!  Zoe and Abigail were squealing and dancing the whole way into the park - it was fun just to watch them.  We were concerned that Joseph wouldn't like the loud noises but he did fabulous and we just stayed away from the shows which had long lines anyways.  We found out that Zoe and Abigail LOVE roller coasters - Abigail's favorite was the Grizzly Gulch and Zoe loved Space Mountain.  Joseph loved...the characters!  He wanted to hug them, kiss them, hold their hands and have his picture with them...and so we have A LOT of character pictures!  Only really needed to wait in a long line for Mickey & Minnie...the rest not too bad!  As for Andy, Megan and I (note that Lindsey was in Colorado then San Diego with her best friend for the break)...we enjoyed being kids again - riding rides, watching parades - and watching the little kids love it so much.  Our first day at the park we arrived when it opened (hoping to beat the crowds which really were not bad) and stayed until fireworks over Sleeping Beauty's castle...Joseph was a heavy load as he slept through the fireworks, two trains and a taxi back to the flat!  The park is relatively smaller than the Disney's back in the US - but it was great to do the whole park in a day and then hit our favorite spots again on day two!

A very happy Joseph hugging his fam on the train!

On our off Disney day despite the rain, we had a transportation fun day with ferry rides, taxis, buses and trams exploring the city and seeing the skyline.  We enjoyed some Western restaurants not in Shanghai...Outback Steakhouse and a very fun Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.  Saved a few days to just hang out in Shanghai as well.  Overall a much needed and well spent Spring Break!

Zoe's Favorite character pic - the princess of course!

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Sitting in the teacup!

Our spacious kitchen in the flat!